# Carlos Bardem

Carlos Encinas Bardem (born 7 March 1963) is a Spanish actor and writer. He is often cast in "tough guy" roles, if not outright villains. In addition to his native Spain, he was worked in film and television in Latin America and the United States. He has received three Goya Award nominations, both in acting and screenwriting categories, as well as six Actors and Actresses Union Award nominations (and two wins).
Since making his film debut in Not Love, Just Frenzy in 1996, he has featured in pictures such as La zona (2007), Cell 211 (2009), Scorpion in Love (2013), and González: falsos profetas (2013). His television work includes credits in series such as La embajada, Club de cuervos, El señor de los cielos, El Cid, Queer You Are, 30 Coins, and The Chosen One.
He has also penned several novels, displaying a penchant for historical fiction.

## Life and career

Carlos Encinas Bardem was born in Madrid on 7 March 1963. He is the son of actress Pilar Bardem and the elder brother of actors Mónica and Javier Bardem. He earned a licentiate degree in history from the Autonomous University of Madrid and a diploma in foreign relations. He made his feature film debut in Not Love, Just Frenzy (1996), co-helmed by his cousin Miguel Bardem. A year later, he played a part in Álex de la Iglesia's film Perdita Durango, which starred his brother Javier.
In 1999, Bardem published his first novel, Muertes ejemplares, which was followed by Buziana o el peso del alma (2002).
He won an Actors and Actresses Union Award for Best New Actor for his performance in the Spanish-Mexican co-production La zona (2007).
His portrayal of Apache in Cell 211 (2009) earned him a nomination for the Goya Award for Best Supporting Actor.
In 2010, he began a relationship with Cecilia Gessa.
Bardem adapted alongside Santiago Zannou his own novel about the genesis of violence Alacrán enamorado to screen. He also featured in the film, titled Scorpion in Love (2013), as a boxing coach, and won nominations to the Goya both for Best Adapted Screenplay and for Best Supporting Performance. He described his character as "a deeply human and therefore imperfect character, who lives in permanent defeat, but who finds reasons to get up". He portrayed evangelical pastor and charlatan Elías in Mexican thriller González: falsos profetas (2013), receiving a nomination for the Ariel Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, he appeared in Manolo Caro's comedy Elvira I Will Give You My Life But I'm Using It playing Gustavo, the husband of Cecilia Suárez's lead character Elvira. Continuing his work in Mexico, he played a football agent in comedy-drama series Club de Cuervos, which debuted on Netflix in 2015.
Bardem played the part of Benedicto, a mentor of the Order of Assassins, in the action film Assassin's Creed (2016).
In 2018, he starred in Colombian crime film Pickpockets in the role of Chucho, a mentor of young pickpockets.
In 2019, Bardem published his sixth novel, Mongo blanco (Plaza & Janés), which deals with 19th-century slave trader Pedro Blanco. Bardem reported that the novel's main theme "is evil, evil as a consequence of the evil exercise of power and extreme inequality".
Bardem play the villanous Count Flaín of León, an antagonist to Ruy Díaz de Vivar, in the Prime Video series El Cid, set in 11th-century Iberia.
He featured as the authoritarian father of Bob Pop [es] in the former's autofictional series Queer You Are (2021), in a role in which Bardem's face is not displayed onscreen. Resuming collaboration with Álex de la Iglesia, he played a "narco-satanic" cardinal in the HBO series 30 Coins.
His 2023 novel Badaq (Plaza & Janés) is a moral fable and criticism of the Spanish empire dealing with the plight of an Indonesian female rhinoceros captured in the island of Pawu and taken to Madrid in the 16th century.

## Views

Bardem is committed to left-wing positions. He has sided in favour of the right to self-determination of the Sahrawi people and has criticised the inaction of the Spanish political class in the matter since 1975. In the buildup to the 2011 Spanish general election, he lent public support to the electoral list of United Left.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | Más que amor, frenesí (Not Love, Just Frenzy) | Miguel | |
| 1997 | Perdita Durango (Dance with the Devil) | Reggie San Pedro | |
| 1998 | Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley (Torrente, the Dumb Arm of the Law) | Cayetano | |
| 1998 | Resultado final | Obrero | |
| 2000 | Código natural | | |
| 2000 | La gran vida | Matón discoteca 1 | |
| 2001 | Juego de Luna (Luna's Game) | Reyes | |
| 2002 | Bestiario | Demetrio | |
| 2004 | Cien maneras de acabar con el amor | Carlos | |
| 2004 | El último negocio | Javier | Short film |
| 2005 | Princesas (Princesses) | Portero discoteca | |
| 2005 | El desenlace | Rosendo | |
| 2006 | Por dinero negro | Rolf | Short film |
| 2006 | La bicicleta (The Bicycle) | Antonio | |
| 2006 | Alatriste | Alguacil | |
| 2006 | Goya's Ghosts | French Colonel | |
| 2007 | La zona | Gerardo | |
| 2007 | La señal | Siracusa | |
| 2008 | Che: Part Two | Moisés Guevara [es] | |
| 2008 | Solo quiero caminar | Ramón | |
| 2009 | El Niño Pez | Comisario Pulido | |
| 2009 | Celda 211 (Cell 211) | Apache | |
| 2009 | Malamuerte | Dorado | |
| 2010 | Entrelobos | Ceferino | |
| 2011 | Días de gracia | Victima X | |
| 2011 | Americano | Luis | |
| 2011 | 10 pelis | Carlos | |
| 2011 | Transgression | Carlos | |
| 2013 | Alacrán enamorado (Scorpion in Love) | Carlomonte | Also screenwriter |
| 2013 | Diamantes negros | Ramón | |
| 2013 | González: falsos profetas | Pastor Elías | |
| 2013 | Violet | Solomon | |
| 2014 | Anime nere | Miguel | |
| 2014 | Escobar: Paradise Lost | Drago | |
| 2014 | Elvira, te daría mi vida pero la estoy usando (Elvira I Will Give You My Life But I'm Using It) | Gustavo | |
| 2015 | Oliver's Deal | Rubén Caravedo | |
| 2016 | Renko | Adán Rutz | |
| 2016 | Assassin's Creed | Benedicto | |
| 2018 | Pickpockets: Maestros del robo (Pickpockets) | Chucho | |
| 2018 | Loca Olivia | Hombre Misterioso | |
| 2018 | Alegría, tristeza (Happy Sad) | Pedro | |
| 2019 | A pesar de todo (Despite Everything) | Pablo | |
| 2019 | Adiós (Bye) | Santacana | |
| 2022 | Centauro | Boro | |
| 2025 | In the Grey † | | |
| TBA | Tabula rasa † | | |
| TBA | Papeles † (Papers) | | |
| TBA | Dragn † | | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | Hermanas | Karlos | Recurring role (season 2); 3 episodes |
| 1999 | El comisario | Juanma Cañizares | Episode: "Muerto por error" |
| 2009–10 | Hay alguien ahí | Justo | Recurring role (seasons 1–2); 17 episodes |
| 2015 | Cuéntame | El Chino | Episode: "El último minuto de nuestra vida" |
| 2015–19 | Club de Cuervos | Eliseo Canales | |
| 2016 | La embajada | Paco Cadenas | Recurring role (season 1); 11 episodes |
| 2017 | The Son | Pedro García | Recurring role (season 1); 10 episodes |
| 2017 | La zona | Krusty | Recurring role (season 1); 4 episodes |
| 2017–18 | Traición | Julián Casas | Recurring role (season 1); 9 episodes |
| 2018 | El Señor de los Cielos | Chivo Ahumada | Main role. Season 6) |
| 2020 | El Cid | El conde Flaín | Main supporting role; 5 chapters |
| 2021 | Maricón perdido (Queer You Are) | Padre | |
| 2021 | Madres. Amor y vida | Hector | Main cast. Introduced in season 3 |
| 2023 | The Chosen One | Father Cruz | |
| 2023 | 30 monedas (30 Coins) | Cardenal de la Cruz | |

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2008 | 17th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best New Actor | La zona | Won |
| 2010 | 24th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Cell 211 | Nominated |
| 2010 | 19th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in a Secondary Role | Cell 211 | Won |
| 2014 | 1st Feroz Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Film | Scorpion in Love | Nominated |
| 2014 | 28th Goya Awards | Best Adapted Screenplay | Scorpion in Love | Nominated |
| 2014 | 28th Goya Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Scorpion in Love | Nominated |
| 2014 | 23rd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in Secondary Role | Scorpion in Love | Nominated |
| 2015 | 57th Ariel Awards | Best Supporting Actor | González: falsos profetas | Nominated |
| 2017 | 26th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Television Actor in a Minor Role | La embajada | Nominated |
| 2019 | 28th Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Film Actor in a Minor Role | Alegría tristeza | Nominated |
| 2024 | 32nd Actors and Actresses Union Awards | Best Actor in an International Production | The Chosen One | Nominated |